Tuesday, 22 April 2008

Some of you may have noticed I've added my Twitter Updates to Sevendotzero. Now you can follow my updates without being logged into Twitter and see what I'm doing. I've blogged about Twitter before and if you aren't already using it you should take a look. It's a great way to keep in touch with friends and see what people are up to. And if you use Facebook, Twitter can update your Facebook presence.

Saturday, 19 April 2008

If you have a Nokia handset there's a good chance it runs the S60 software. This includes N Series, E Series, plus some of the 6xxx series handsets. I've blogged before about the versatility of S60 and one of the great features is the ability to change the themes. This means changing the colour, style, icons, fonts etc of the wallpaper and menus on your phone to something personal and different, via the selection of a different theme. Handsets come with a few pre-installed themes but they don't tend to be very interesting. It's much better to download new themes from the web.

My favourite site for free themes is Pizero Symbian Design. The site has a great selection of different themes with new ones appearing all the time. What I particularly like about these themes is that they 'work' consistently well. Some themes look good but when you install them you find that some of the colour contrasts are poor and you can't read some of the text.

One tip to note is that you will need to change your handset settings to accept unsigned applications. This is normally found via - Tools, Settings, Applications, Application Manager, Software Installation, All (change from signed only).

I've agreed with Ewan over at SMS Text News that I will write a weekly article for publication on Thursdays so remember to check in at SMS Text News every week to read my latest musings on what's happening in mobile.

Wednesday, 9 April 2008

Am I the only one that's fed up with flaky and variable mobile coverage? After 23 years of mobile service in the UK, I expect the networks to have sorted out coverage. In-building coverage can be very flaky and even in heavily populated regions of the UK like the South East, there are significant gaps in coverage. Other gaps include no mobile coverage on the London Underground and variable service on regular trains (Vodafone and Virgin are now doing something here).

Femtocells are now on the agenda of most of the UK networks. These are 'mini' cells that will provide good in-building coverage and route your calls & data traffic over your home or office broadband. It remains to be seen how Femtocells will be marketed and what they will cost but they could transform service for people who struggle with their mobiles at home.

What we need is more infrastructure and cost sharing to fill in the gaps and provide better coverage across the UK. Competition should be about pricing and products, not about where your phone will work.